Lord Ramsbotham

We are committed to supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and recognise the importance of identifying SLCN early to enable the right support to be put in place and reduce the impact that they may have in the longer term.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a renewed focus on the early identification of needs and focuses the system on the impact of the support provided to the child, rather than on how children access support according to categories of need.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) sets out the key areas of learning which every provider must follow. For communication and language, the EYFS requires practitioners to give children the opportunity to experience a rich language environment, to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations. Communication and language is a prime area of learning, within which it is expected that all children attain an expected level in the listening and attention, understanding and speaking early learning goals.

The EYFS profile results tells us that children’s development in these areas are improving year on year. In 2016, 81.6% of children achieved at least the expected level in communication and language compared to 72.2% in 2013.

The government recognises that the quality of the workforce has the biggest impact on children’s outcomes. We have recently published our workforce strategy which sets out our plans to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff in the early years workforce. One of the planned actions is to provide training through voluntary and community sector grants on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), speech and language development and effective business management.

We have allocated £223 million to local authorities (LAs), since 2014 to support them to implement the SEND reforms. We published, in December 2016, seven Invitations to Tender for contracts totalling up to £4.8m to support children and young people with SEND in 2017-18.

One of the resulting contracts will specifically support those with SLCN and comes in addition to £1.7m that has already been invested in SLCN since the implementation of the SEND reforms in 2014. This funding is improving support for children and young people who have SLCN both with and without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. One of the contract requirements will be to improve the quality of referrals and the effectiveness of commissioning specialist support for children and young people with SLCN, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

We are also delivering, through our strategic partners, a range of support for joint working between LAs and health bodies, including: self-assessment tools to jointly monitor progress with meeting responsibilities and briefings to support commissioning. In addition, from 2017-18, for the first time, NHS provider contracts will include a requirement that health professionals provide input into EHC plans within six weeks. We are working with NHS England (NHSE) to make best use of resources to support joint working, including NHSE-led workshops this spring, and to support the delivery of the Transforming Care Programme to improve services for children, young people and adults.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on Clinical Commissioning Groups and LAs to deliver integrated support to improve children and young peoples’ outcomes. This means that local governance arrangements must be in place to ensure clear accountability for commissioning services for children and young people with SEND from birth to the age of 25, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

In addition, nurseries, schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to secure the necessary special education provision needed by those with identified SEND, which includes commissioning speech and language therapy services. Local authorities can also use their high needs budget to fund support without the need for an EHC plan if it is appropriate to do so.

Government, local areas and the professionals working with children and young people with SLCN all have their part to play in the commissioning of services and highlighting where challenges remain. To this end, we have put in place a new Ofsted and CQC inspection framework for assessing local area effectiveness with meeting their SEND responsibilities. We are working closely with the Department of Health and NHSE to respond to findings and support local areas to improve services and build on their strengths.

We expect details of services to meet SLCN, including how they can be accessed, to be included in the local offer, which every LA is required to publish in consultation with children, parents and young people. This enables families to hold LAs to account for any provision they feel has not been available as specified in the Local Offer, and to suggest new services they consider necessary.

We are committed to supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and recognise the importance of identifying SLCN early to enable the right support to be put in place and reduce the impact that they may have in the longer term.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a renewed focus on the early identification of needs and focuses the system on the impact of the support provided to the child, rather than on how children access support according to categories of need.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) sets out the key areas of learning which every provider must follow. For communication and language, the EYFS requires practitioners to give children the opportunity to experience a rich language environment, to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations. Communication and language is a prime area of learning, within which it is expected that all children attain an expected level in the listening and attention, understanding and speaking early learning goals.

The EYFS profile results tells us that children’s development in these areas are improving year on year. In 2016, 81.6% of children achieved at least the expected level in communication and language compared to 72.2% in 2013.

The government recognises that the quality of the workforce has the biggest impact on children’s outcomes. We have recently published our workforce strategy which sets out our plans to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff in the early years workforce. One of the planned actions is to provide training through voluntary and community sector grants on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), speech and language development and effective business management.

We have allocated £223 million to local authorities (LAs), since 2014 to support them to implement the SEND reforms. We published, in December 2016, seven Invitations to Tender for contracts totalling up to £4.8m to support children and young people with SEND in 2017-18.

One of the resulting contracts will specifically support those with SLCN and comes in addition to £1.7m that has already been invested in SLCN since the implementation of the SEND reforms in 2014. This funding is improving support for children and young people who have SLCN both with and without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. One of the contract requirements will be to improve the quality of referrals and the effectiveness of commissioning specialist support for children and young people with SLCN, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

We are also delivering, through our strategic partners, a range of support for joint working between LAs and health bodies, including: self-assessment tools to jointly monitor progress with meeting responsibilities and briefings to support commissioning. In addition, from 2017-18, for the first time, NHS provider contracts will include a requirement that health professionals provide input into EHC plans within six weeks. We are working with NHS England (NHSE) to make best use of resources to support joint working, including NHSE-led workshops this spring, and to support the delivery of the Transforming Care Programme to improve services for children, young people and adults.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on Clinical Commissioning Groups and LAs to deliver integrated support to improve children and young peoples’ outcomes. This means that local governance arrangements must be in place to ensure clear accountability for commissioning services for children and young people with SEND from birth to the age of 25, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

In addition, nurseries, schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to secure the necessary special education provision needed by those with identified SEND, which includes commissioning speech and language therapy services. Local authorities can also use their high needs budget to fund support without the need for an EHC plan if it is appropriate to do so.

Government, local areas and the professionals working with children and young people with SLCN all have their part to play in the commissioning of services and highlighting where challenges remain. To this end, we have put in place a new Ofsted and CQC inspection framework for assessing local area effectiveness with meeting their SEND responsibilities. We are working closely with the Department of Health and NHSE to respond to findings and support local areas to improve services and build on their strengths.

We expect details of services to meet SLCN, including how they can be accessed, to be included in the local offer, which every LA is required to publish in consultation with children, parents and young people. This enables families to hold LAs to account for any provision they feel has not been available as specified in the Local Offer, and to suggest new services they consider necessary.

We are committed to supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and recognise the importance of identifying SLCN early to enable the right support to be put in place and reduce the impact that they may have in the longer term.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a renewed focus on the early identification of needs and focuses the system on the impact of the support provided to the child, rather than on how children access support according to categories of need.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) sets out the key areas of learning which every provider must follow. For communication and language, the EYFS requires practitioners to give children the opportunity to experience a rich language environment, to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations. Communication and language is a prime area of learning, within which it is expected that all children attain an expected level in the listening and attention, understanding and speaking early learning goals.

The EYFS profile results tells us that children’s development in these areas are improving year on year. In 2016, 81.6% of children achieved at least the expected level in communication and language compared to 72.2% in 2013.

The government recognises that the quality of the workforce has the biggest impact on children’s outcomes. We have recently published our workforce strategy which sets out our plans to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff in the early years workforce. One of the planned actions is to provide training through voluntary and community sector grants on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), speech and language development and effective business management.

We have allocated £223 million to local authorities (LAs), since 2014 to support them to implement the SEND reforms. We published, in December 2016, seven Invitations to Tender for contracts totalling up to £4.8m to support children and young people with SEND in 2017-18.

One of the resulting contracts will specifically support those with SLCN and comes in addition to £1.7m that has already been invested in SLCN since the implementation of the SEND reforms in 2014. This funding is improving support for children and young people who have SLCN both with and without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. One of the contract requirements will be to improve the quality of referrals and the effectiveness of commissioning specialist support for children and young people with SLCN, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

We are also delivering, through our strategic partners, a range of support for joint working between LAs and health bodies, including: self-assessment tools to jointly monitor progress with meeting responsibilities and briefings to support commissioning. In addition, from 2017-18, for the first time, NHS provider contracts will include a requirement that health professionals provide input into EHC plans within six weeks. We are working with NHS England (NHSE) to make best use of resources to support joint working, including NHSE-led workshops this spring, and to support the delivery of the Transforming Care Programme to improve services for children, young people and adults.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on Clinical Commissioning Groups and LAs to deliver integrated support to improve children and young peoples’ outcomes. This means that local governance arrangements must be in place to ensure clear accountability for commissioning services for children and young people with SEND from birth to the age of 25, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

In addition, nurseries, schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to secure the necessary special education provision needed by those with identified SEND, which includes commissioning speech and language therapy services. Local authorities can also use their high needs budget to fund support without the need for an EHC plan if it is appropriate to do so.

Government, local areas and the professionals working with children and young people with SLCN all have their part to play in the commissioning of services and highlighting where challenges remain. To this end, we have put in place a new Ofsted and CQC inspection framework for assessing local area effectiveness with meeting their SEND responsibilities. We are working closely with the Department of Health and NHSE to respond to findings and support local areas to improve services and build on their strengths.

We expect details of services to meet SLCN, including how they can be accessed, to be included in the local offer, which every LA is required to publish in consultation with children, parents and young people. This enables families to hold LAs to account for any provision they feel has not been available as specified in the Local Offer, and to suggest new services they consider necessary.

We are committed to supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and recognise the importance of identifying SLCN early to enable the right support to be put in place and reduce the impact that they may have in the longer term.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a renewed focus on the early identification of needs and focuses the system on the impact of the support provided to the child, rather than on how children access support according to categories of need.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) sets out the key areas of learning which every provider must follow. For communication and language, the EYFS requires practitioners to give children the opportunity to experience a rich language environment, to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations. Communication and language is a prime area of learning, within which it is expected that all children attain an expected level in the listening and attention, understanding and speaking early learning goals.

The EYFS profile results tells us that children’s development in these areas are improving year on year. In 2016, 81.6% of children achieved at least the expected level in communication and language compared to 72.2% in 2013.

The government recognises that the quality of the workforce has the biggest impact on children’s outcomes. We have recently published our workforce strategy which sets out our plans to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff in the early years workforce. One of the planned actions is to provide training through voluntary and community sector grants on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), speech and language development and effective business management.

We have allocated £223 million to local authorities (LAs), since 2014 to support them to implement the SEND reforms. We published, in December 2016, seven Invitations to Tender for contracts totalling up to £4.8m to support children and young people with SEND in 2017-18.

One of the resulting contracts will specifically support those with SLCN and comes in addition to £1.7m that has already been invested in SLCN since the implementation of the SEND reforms in 2014. This funding is improving support for children and young people who have SLCN both with and without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. One of the contract requirements will be to improve the quality of referrals and the effectiveness of commissioning specialist support for children and young people with SLCN, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

We are also delivering, through our strategic partners, a range of support for joint working between LAs and health bodies, including: self-assessment tools to jointly monitor progress with meeting responsibilities and briefings to support commissioning. In addition, from 2017-18, for the first time, NHS provider contracts will include a requirement that health professionals provide input into EHC plans within six weeks. We are working with NHS England (NHSE) to make best use of resources to support joint working, including NHSE-led workshops this spring, and to support the delivery of the Transforming Care Programme to improve services for children, young people and adults.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on Clinical Commissioning Groups and LAs to deliver integrated support to improve children and young peoples’ outcomes. This means that local governance arrangements must be in place to ensure clear accountability for commissioning services for children and young people with SEND from birth to the age of 25, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

In addition, nurseries, schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to secure the necessary special education provision needed by those with identified SEND, which includes commissioning speech and language therapy services. Local authorities can also use their high needs budget to fund support without the need for an EHC plan if it is appropriate to do so.

Government, local areas and the professionals working with children and young people with SLCN all have their part to play in the commissioning of services and highlighting where challenges remain. To this end, we have put in place a new Ofsted and CQC inspection framework for assessing local area effectiveness with meeting their SEND responsibilities. We are working closely with the Department of Health and NHSE to respond to findings and support local areas to improve services and build on their strengths.

We expect details of services to meet SLCN, including how they can be accessed, to be included in the local offer, which every LA is required to publish in consultation with children, parents and young people. This enables families to hold LAs to account for any provision they feel has not been available as specified in the Local Offer, and to suggest new services they consider necessary.

We are committed to supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and recognise the importance of identifying SLCN early to enable the right support to be put in place and reduce the impact that they may have in the longer term.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a renewed focus on the early identification of needs and focuses the system on the impact of the support provided to the child, rather than on how children access support according to categories of need.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) sets out the key areas of learning which every provider must follow. For communication and language, the EYFS requires practitioners to give children the opportunity to experience a rich language environment, to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations. Communication and language is a prime area of learning, within which it is expected that all children attain an expected level in the listening and attention, understanding and speaking early learning goals.

The EYFS profile results tells us that children’s development in these areas are improving year on year. In 2016, 81.6% of children achieved at least the expected level in communication and language compared to 72.2% in 2013.

The government recognises that the quality of the workforce has the biggest impact on children’s outcomes. We have recently published our workforce strategy which sets out our plans to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff in the early years workforce. One of the planned actions is to provide training through voluntary and community sector grants on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), speech and language development and effective business management.

We have allocated £223 million to local authorities (LAs), since 2014 to support them to implement the SEND reforms. We published, in December 2016, seven Invitations to Tender for contracts totalling up to £4.8m to support children and young people with SEND in 2017-18.

One of the resulting contracts will specifically support those with SLCN and comes in addition to £1.7m that has already been invested in SLCN since the implementation of the SEND reforms in 2014. This funding is improving support for children and young people who have SLCN both with and without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. One of the contract requirements will be to improve the quality of referrals and the effectiveness of commissioning specialist support for children and young people with SLCN, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

We are also delivering, through our strategic partners, a range of support for joint working between LAs and health bodies, including: self-assessment tools to jointly monitor progress with meeting responsibilities and briefings to support commissioning. In addition, from 2017-18, for the first time, NHS provider contracts will include a requirement that health professionals provide input into EHC plans within six weeks. We are working with NHS England (NHSE) to make best use of resources to support joint working, including NHSE-led workshops this spring, and to support the delivery of the Transforming Care Programme to improve services for children, young people and adults.

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on Clinical Commissioning Groups and LAs to deliver integrated support to improve children and young peoples’ outcomes. This means that local governance arrangements must be in place to ensure clear accountability for commissioning services for children and young people with SEND from birth to the age of 25, whether or not they have an EHC plan.

In addition, nurseries, schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to secure the necessary special education provision needed by those with identified SEND, which includes commissioning speech and language therapy services. Local authorities can also use their high needs budget to fund support without the need for an EHC plan if it is appropriate to do so.

Government, local areas and the professionals working with children and young people with SLCN all have their part to play in the commissioning of services and highlighting where challenges remain. To this end, we have put in place a new Ofsted and CQC inspection framework for assessing local area effectiveness with meeting their SEND responsibilities. We are working closely with the Department of Health and NHSE to respond to findings and support local areas to improve services and build on their strengths.

We expect details of services to meet SLCN, including how they can be accessed, to be included in the local offer, which every LA is required to publish in consultation with children, parents and young people. This enables families to hold LAs to account for any provision they feel has not been available as specified in the Local Offer, and to suggest new services they consider necessary.

This report highlighted the importance of governance and ethical consideration in children’s services research. The report suggested that at the time of the research, local practice was variable, but there were, and still are, a number of accepted research governance arrangements in place for local authorities and other research organisations to seek guidance and approval, including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), the Social Research Association, the NSPCC, and university ethics boards. The Department for Education has concluded that these arrangements are the best route for local authorities and external research organisations to obtain external guidance on research governance and ethics.

Following publication of the report, the Department, in consultation with the ADCS Research Group, has developed ethics guidance and an ethics checklist for its own funded research and evaluation. This is based on the Government Social Research Professional Guidance, which sets out the principles that should be used when conducting social research for the Government. It states that those conducting, commissioning or managing Government social research have a responsibility to ensure that research is conducted using appropriate methods and that the rights and interests of all those involved in the research process are protected. Research should be conducted in a manner that:

• ensures valid, informed consent is obtained before individuals participate in research (for children under 16, parents/legal guardians as well as the children themselves must be approached for consent to participate);

• takes reasonable steps to identify and remove barriers to participation;

• avoids personal and social harm; and

• protects the confidentiality of information about research participants and their identities.

The Government has worked closely with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, Local Government Association, the Youth Justice Board and the Secure Accommodation Network to consider how the operation of the secure children’s homes system could be better planned and co-ordinated to meet children’s needs.

We are currently considering the commissioning arrangements for all children’s homes as part of our response to recommendations made in Sir Martin Narey’s independent review of residential care. We also await the outcome of Charlie Taylor’s review of the youth justice system in England and Wales. Work will continue through to the end of this year to identify the best long-term commissioning arrangements for secure children’s homes.

The Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool Quality Assurance Audit is due to complete by the end of January 2019. It was commissioned as an internal review by NHS England to support their functioning as a commissioner and as such will not be published.

There are currently no plans to introduce a single model of joint commissioning for children and young people with speech, communication and language needs. However, we monitor the effectiveness of local joint arrangements via a rolling programme of inspections by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. These began in 2016, and over five years, will visit every local area, and assess how well commissioners work together to support children and young people with special educational needs.

The Government is working with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and I CAN through the Expert Advisory Group established by Public Health England and the Department for Education, as part of the latter’s Social Mobility Action Plan for Education, ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’.

A model speech, language and communication pathway for services for children aged 0-5 years, built on the best evidence and experience of implementation in practice, is currently in development. This will encourage joint commissioning and service provision.

NHS England does not hold the information requested centrally.

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare in all prisons in England. This includes integrated substance misuse services.

Commissioning of primary healthcare, mental health and substance misuse services is carried out by local Health and Justice commissioning teams, of which there are 10 across England.

The Welsh Assembly Government and Local Health Boards are responsible for commissioning substance misuse services in public sector prisons in Wales.

The Department for Education has an ongoing dialogue with Public Health England on the issue of children’s speech and language development. They have formed a partnership to address the ‘word gap’ and support the speech, language and communication elements of the Healthy Child Programme. This programme of work will include training and resources for health visitors on speech, language and communication needs, incorporating evidence-based red flags on delayed early use of gesture and pointing by young children.

The Government has no current plans to review the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool to identify speech, language and communication needs in the children and young people’s secure estate.

NHS England has commissioned Manchester University to review use of the Tool across 14 Secure Children’s Homes, three Secure Training Centres and four Young Offender Institutions. This includes consideration of the quality of the assessments being completed and the processes and procedures set up to support the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool. The review will report on overarching themes and individual site reports, each containing an action plan and recommendations. It is intended that this process will enable identification of key themes for NHS England to consider as well as individual site reports, each containing an action plan and recommendations.

NHS England is currently carrying out a review of the information collected in relation to all mental health services. This review will include the collection and reporting of data on the length of stays in secure inpatient care.

It is expected that information on the length of stays will be reported by NHS England going forward.

Since April 2013 NHS England has been responsible for commissioning all secure inpatient mental health care services nationally. The current number of beds in medium secure services in England is 3,188 and 3,348 in low secure. The data is provided by NHS England and is taken from the Mental Health Service Review Programme based on 2015/16 contracts.

The percentage of beds occupied will vary, depending on when the information is collected. However, where beds are contracted with an occupancy threshold, this is usually between 93% and 96% across the various contracts held by NHS England for these services.

The information provided refers to adult medium and low secure beds.

The terms of reference of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act ask the review to identify issues across the breadth of the Act and associated practice, including those elements relating to prisoners and those charged with offences. In particular, the terms of reference highlight stakeholder concerns about ‘the time required to take decisions and arrange transfers for patients subject to criminal proceedings’.

Naloxone has a vital role in saving lives and we are committed to widening its use in England. We have accepted the recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to make this life-saving medicine available more widely and Departmental officials are drafting new regulations to give effect to this decision. This legislative change is due to commence in October 2015.

Public Health England has recently published advice for commissioners and providers on the provision of take-home naloxone for reversing overdose in people who use heroin and other opiates, so that commissioners and providers can take action, both now and following the October 2015 legislative change, to widen the supply of naloxone.

In addition, the issue of naloxone supply is also being considered by the independent expert group updating the 2007 drug misuse clinical guidelines, Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management.

As it is formulated as an injectable medicine, naloxone does not meet the criteria set out in legislation for classification as an over-the-counter medicine.

Amended regulations will be publicly available when they are laid before Parliament.

Naloxone has a vital role in saving lives and we are committed to widening its use in England. We have accepted the recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to make this life-saving medicine available more widely and Departmental officials are drafting new regulations to give effect to this decision. This legislative change is due to commence in October 2015.

Public Health England has recently published advice for commissioners and providers on the provision of take-home naloxone for reversing overdose in people who use heroin and other opiates, so that commissioners and providers can take action, both now and following the October 2015 legislative change, to widen the supply of naloxone.

In addition, the issue of naloxone supply is also being considered by the independent expert group updating the 2007 drug misuse clinical guidelines, Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management.

As it is formulated as an injectable medicine, naloxone does not meet the criteria set out in legislation for classification as an over-the-counter medicine.

Amended regulations will be publicly available when they are laid before Parliament.

Naloxone has a vital role in saving lives and we are committed to widening its use in England. We have accepted the recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to make this life-saving medicine available more widely and Departmental officials are drafting new regulations to give effect to this decision. This legislative change is due to commence in October 2015.

Public Health England has recently published advice for commissioners and providers on the provision of take-home naloxone for reversing overdose in people who use heroin and other opiates, so that commissioners and providers can take action, both now and following the October 2015 legislative change, to widen the supply of naloxone.

In addition, the issue of naloxone supply is also being considered by the independent expert group updating the 2007 drug misuse clinical guidelines, Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management.

As it is formulated as an injectable medicine, naloxone does not meet the criteria set out in legislation for classification as an over-the-counter medicine.

Amended regulations will be publicly available when they are laid before Parliament.

We note the recommendations in the report.

Detention is used sparingly, especially in the case of those who have claimed asylum. The overwhelming majority of asylum claimants remain in the community whilst their cases are considered. Only a very small minority of asylum claimants are detained whilst their case is considered and this is normally where they have claimed asylum after already having been detained for removal.

We are currently developing the new Drug Strategy, working across government and with key partners. The new strategy will be published soon.

Following a court order dated 2 December 2016 in the case of R (on the application of Medical Justice) v the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in respect of the Home Office policy on adults at risk in immigration detention, the Home Office has reverted to the pre-12 September definition of torture in the context of immigration detention, until the Court reaches its final judgment in the case. As court proceedings are ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on the statement from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Since the publication of the Government’s response to Stephen Shaw’s Report into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons on 14 January, work has been ongoing to design a more effective case management process to replace the existing method of reviewing detention.

We are currently working with the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty’s Court Service and the First-tier Tribunal to implement the Secretary of State’s duty to arrange consideration of bail, as set out in paragraph 11 of Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016. This is just one part of a large number of changes necessary to implement the wider immigration bail provisions in Schedule 10 and will be commenced alongside those other provisions in due course.

Having considered the very detailed responses received to the consultation exercise, we intend to make the statutory rules governing the regulation and management of immigration short term holding facilities in due course.